A new solution for the Lotru bridge

The railway that goes through the Olt Pass from Piatra Olt to Podul Olt was realised in several stages starting with the Piatr Olt - Dragasani section that was opened the 13th December 1886 and it continued towards Ramnicu Valcea in 1887, then to Jiblea in 189 and ended at Raul Vadului - a frontier station back then on August 1st, 1901 while in Transilvania the section from Podul Olt to Raul Vadului had already been finished since 1897.
These stages were mentioned to show the age of this railway and on the other hand, the ingenuity of the period regarding technical solutions adopted by the Romanian engineer Mihail Romniceanu - both regarding the itinerary studies and the artworks in particular. It is a good proof the fact that these works remained untouched for over 60 years. They needed no repairs or completions whatsoever. For instance, near the Lotru Station at the 325+704 km a 200 meter-long bridge was built, on a 400-meter-radius curve that is registered in 1899 in CFR archives. That section of line was opened for circulation in 1901.
Between 1970 - 1980 a series of dams were build on the Olt river and the Lotru Bridge was included in the Gura Lotrului - a fact that led to some troubles that determined the decision to take measures to save it. The bridge has a grid beam superstructure and had four openings, 50 meters each. The superstructure was consolidated in 1964. The level of the rail on the bridge is no longer upholding the normal hydraulic guard, in rapport with the lake level (the safety margin from the lake's surface).
The legs are frequently submerged while superior structural parts are constantly below the water level. The water level is variegating due to the hydroelectric power plant. Considering all these aspects, investigations were made that showed the bridge infrastructure is degrading continuously. The necessity to elevate the bridge by circa 1.8 meters from the current position became obvious.
The age of the construction shows that the bridge's safe exploitation period expired, a fact that gives the company the right to look for solutions for the problem. Consequently, on demand by CFR SA ISPCF studied the matter and presented two options for rebuilding of the bridge. One of the solutions calls for a new bridge with a double rail in parallel with the current bridge. The new bridge will be built at the necessary levels, with five openings of 50 meters each with a total length of 250 meters. During the construction the old bridge would still be operative.
The second option proposed the consolidation of the existing infrastructures and elevating the superstructure by 1.8 meters. This alternative would close the circulation on the bridge and re-route it to a temporary course.
As expected, the CFR SA Technical-Economical Council approved the first solution and the operation was included in the RK plan of the company with a value of 8.5 billion lei. The deadline is 2003. The CFR SA Administrative Council approved the promotion of a government decision to rebuild the bridge and the execution will be given to the Hidrotehnica Orsova company, based on the technical documentation and the existing building permit. The firm specialises in consolidation and execution works specific to the railway. The yard organisation will be made on a terrain leased from the Valcea County Council.

Reporting: Dan Dragos Aldea